“Older people are frequently discriminated against primarily in the area of healthcare. They are also being discriminated on the labor market, and when I say this I have older workers in mind. Because “older” is how their employees perceive them, due to prejudice and ignorance, thinking that those above 50 or 55 years of age are less productive,” said the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality, Brankica Janković at an event marking the International Day of Older Persons which was held in Dečiji kulturni centar in Belgrade.

She said that discrimination of older persons before public authorities still persists and that it is necessary to train civil servants working with the public and enable them to provide needs driven response to their clients which would ultimately enable citizens to exercise their rights without discrimination.

The Commissioner for the Protection of Equality said that the number of complaints alleging discrimination on the grounds of age is not high and is around 10 per cent of the total number of complaints, but that in reality this figure is higher.

Mladen Šarčević, Minister of Education, Science and Technological Development said that there is a need for us to be more sensitive towards older persons who often need help, he also called on young people to keep in mind the tradition and the fact that they would be judged on their deeds.

Michael Davenport, the Head of the EU Mission to Serbia said that Serbia has best intentions in mind when combating discrimination and that the Commissioner is the country’s key player in this field. He also said that Serbia has a good Action Plan for combating discrimination, that the EU wants to see Serbia join the EU and that the EU wishes to do everything in its power to help Serbia on this journey.

Years do not count – promoting solidarity among different generations event was organized by the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality with the support of the Open Fund Society.